Discmania PD vs Discraft Force: Which Overstable Driver?

The Discmania PD (10/4/0/3) and the Discraft Force (12/5/0/3) are overstable distance drivers with identical turn and fade ratings, both PDGA approved in 2008. The Force is two speeds faster on a wider rim. The PD is the one you can throw at less than full effort and still get the flight on the label.

Both molds exist so that a line cannot turn over. The Force is the bigger, faster version of that job and needs the arm to match. The PD does the same work at a speed most advanced players can control without swinging out of their shoes.

The quick answer

• Pick the PD if you want an overstable driver you can shape rather than simply rip, you throw utility forehands and spike hyzers, or your bag already runs Discmania plastic.
• Pick the Force if you want overstable distance rather than overstable control, you play exposed courses in real wind, or you want the long skip that a 2.5 cm rim produces.
• The deciding numbers are speed and rim width. Turn and fade match at 0 and 3, so neither disc rewards a weak release with a turnover. The Force's 12 speed and 2.5 cm rim put it in the distance class. The PD's 10 speed and 2.3 cm rim keep it in reach at lower power.

Flight numbers compared

Height, rim depth and diameter are the same on both molds. Speed, glide and rim width are where they separate.

Both molds are listed for advanced players, and the matching 0 turn is the reason. A disc with no rated turn gives a developing arm nothing back. Release it below the speed it wants and it finishes left early instead of flying the line on the label. If that describes your distance right now, the Innova Thunderbird (9/5/0/2) and the Discraft Undertaker (9/5/-1/2) hold a similar shape at a speed that asks for less. Our flight numbers guide works through what each of the four ratings describes.

Where the two flights diverge

The PD is the more readable flight of the two. Ten speed with four glide is a driver that gets to its finish without much drift, and the fade arrives on schedule rather than at the outer edge of your range. Discmania built the mold around torque resistance, the property that matters most on a forehand: the disc resists the twist the throw puts into it instead of wobbling out of the line. That is why the PD turns up in bags as a control disc rather than a distance disc, often in several stages of wear at once so one familiar mold can cover a range of overstable shapes.

The Force does something different with the same turn and fade. It carries an extra point of glide and two extra points of speed, so it covers more ground before the fade takes hold and the same 0/3 rating produces a longer line with a later hook. That glide is the part that catches people out, because a very overstable driver is usually expected to drop out of the air early.

Wind widens the gap between them. In a strong headwind the Force holds its line where a driver with rated turn would flip. The PD does the same job in the same conditions, over less ground, because a 10-speed rim was never going to travel as far as a 12 for the same effort. If the vocabulary is new, understable vs overstable covers it and what is fade handles the number doing the work at the end of both flights.

The rim, and what it asks of you

Two tenths of a centimeter sounds like nothing. On a driver rim it is the difference between a mold you can grip comfortably at moderate power and one built to be released fast.

The Force's 2.5 cm rim is the same width as the Innova Destroyer and the Discraft Zeus, the two discs our database lists as its closest matches. That rim is also what produces the long skip Discraft lists the disc for, since a wide, firm edge landing at an angle carries forward instead of stopping. The PD's 2.3 cm rim sits a step narrower, closer to fairway territory, and the trade is distance for a release that is easier to repeat.

Rim depth is identical at 1.2 cm, so the two discs sit in the hand more similarly than the width figures suggest. What changes is the reach across your fingers, not the depth under them.

What each disc is actually for

The listed jobs overlap at the top and separate at the bottom.

The PD's list is power forehand drives, headwind drives where the disc cannot turn over, overstable backhand hyzers at 350 feet and beyond, and spike hyzers and utility skip shots. That last item is what marks it out. The PD gets reached for when a line absolutely cannot turn, including forehand approaches and shots around a guardian tree. Simon Lizotte and Eagle McMahon both threw it during their Discmania years.

The Force's list is power forehand drives at 350 feet and beyond, heavy-headwind distance drives, long skip shots off the fairway, and overstable hyzer drives that have to finish left for a right-handed backhand player. Three of those four are distance shots. Andrew Presnell has a signature Tour Series run of the mold, and Paul McBeth threw it as a forehand driver during his Discraft years.

The PD is a utility disc that can also drive. The Force is a driver that can also do utility work. If your overstable slot is mostly about getting out of trouble, the slower mold does more for you. If it is mostly about wind and length, the faster one does.

Plastic, and how each one ages

Plastic choice moves both molds within their own range, and the two catalogs do not translate.

• C-Line PD: the firm, long-lived run that most PD throwers favor.
• S-Line PD: more grip and a touch more glide than C-Line.
• Big Z Force: the run favored for forehand work.
• ESP Force: more grip and slightly more glide than Big Z.

The PD is also produced in G-Line, Metal Flake and Swirly S-Line, and the Force's remaining run is CryZtal Sparkle. A beaten-in PD becomes a noticeably more versatile disc as the overstability softens, which is why so many players carry more than one. Our plastics guide covers both catalogs.

One piece of history is worth knowing if you buy used. The PD was PDGA approved in 2008 and was originally manufactured by Innova under license. After Discmania opened its own factory in Sweden the mold was re-tooled and re-approved in 2021, with production moved in-house, and both eras circulate widely on the secondhand market. The Force was approved on 21 February 2008 under certification number 08-08, a decade before the Zeus arrived to sit beside it in the Discraft lineup.

How to choose

1. How far you throw. If a 12-speed rim is still ahead of your arm, the Force will fade out early and the PD will not.
2. What the overstable slot is for in your bag. Utility and recovery point to the PD. Wind and distance point to the Force.
3. Which hand throws it. Both molds are listed for power forehands, so either works. The PD's rim is two tenths of a centimeter narrower, which is felt most on a forehand grip.
4. Which catalog you already throw. Neither company's plastic names help you predict the other's, so staying inside one catalog removes a variable.

If neither is quite right

• Discmania PD2 (12/4/0/4). Discmania's answer at the Force's speed, and more overstable than either disc here.
• Discmania DD3 (12/5/-1/3). The 12-speed Discmania driver with a point of turn, for flex lines and hyzer flips.
• Discraft Zeus (12/5/-1/3). The Force's speed with a point of turn, and the more forgiving of the two Discraft 12s.
• Innova Firebird (9/3/0/4). More fade and less glide, for utility work at a slower speed than the PD.
• Discmania PD3 (11/3/0/5). The extreme end of the Power Driver family, for headwinds that beat everything else.

Related

• Discraft Force vs Innova Destroyer
• Innova Teebird vs Discmania FD
• Innova vs Discraft: complete brand comparison
• Understable vs overstable: stability explained
• The complete flight numbers guide

Compare these two discs with overlaid flight paths in the comparison tool.